Rubber duck, rubber-boned actor – The artist has garnered celebrity fans. Jackie Chan joined Hofman in Beijing to throw a farewell party for the popular duck when it left to float on to another city.

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Photos:Giant inflatable duck man's next big thing: Hippos

Inspiration from mass-produced toys – "I love the fact that so many toys are made in China and Taiwan. They're sent to the U.S. and Europe and they're in the hands of children for just a few minutes," says artist Florentijn Hofman.

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Photos:Giant inflatable duck man's next big thing: Hippos

Dancing ducks, dancing hippos? – Once "HippopoThames" is unveiled, will the children dance in hippo costumes?

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Photos:Giant inflatable duck man's next big thing: Hippos

Beginnings of a cult following – More than a million people around the world have visited this towering photogenic duck. An estimate of 500,000 spectators came out to see Rubber Duck in Kaohsiung, Taiwan despite the threat of an approaching typhoon.

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Photos:Giant inflatable duck man's next big thing: Hippos

Shanghai's 'Pink Kitten' – In May 2014, Hofman unveiled "Pink Kitten" for Shanghai Design Week. The 10-meter-high kitten was made of bamboo strips.

Story highlights

Artist Florentijn Hofman's latest work is part of a festival celebrating London's River Thames

Hofman says he's inspired by found objects and the settings his artworks are displayed in

The Dutchman says he's now done with water-based art and promises no more ducks

When it comes to the creatures most likely to be spotted swimming down London's River Thames, hippos will be far down the list.

Until now.

Thanks to Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, eagle-eyed visitors to London might just spot the three humps of an enormous hippo appearing from the Thames' murky depths.

Hofman is known for his super-sized, colorful works of art, most recently the enormous inflatable rubber duck that floated around the waters of cities like Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Auckland and Osaka.

Earlier this year, Hofman was asked to create a piece of artwork by the organizers of Totally Thames, an annual festival that celebrates London's famous river.

He says he started by researching the history of the river, and eventually came across studies on hippo evolution that revealed its waters were awash with the large creatures hundreds of thousands of years ago.

The result was an artwork he's christened with a pun almost as heavy as one of the beasts he's been studying: "HippopoThames."

"I wanted to use the hippo to get people out of their homes, away from the Internet and the TV, and to explore London with a new perspective."

Not that creating a giant replica of an ungainly water mammal in one of the UK's busiest waterways is an easy business.

"I was thinking about the history, but I also had to think about practicalities," Hofman says.

"We needed to make sure it could fit under various bridges as it had to be towed into place, so it's a cocktail of ingredients: the history of London, cost and the size of the space available."

Like several of Hofman's other pieces, "HippopoThames" was inspired by everyday objects -- in this case a children's book that the artist's parents gave him for their grandchild.

"One page had an illustration of a hippo and I saw it and thought that it could work really well. So the installation is something which is partly inspired by a found object," he says.

It's a process Hofman has used in the past, chiefly the enormous cuddly toys that formed his 2009 exhibition at The Hague and the ornament-like sparrow statues he created for Belgium's Rock Werchter music festival.

Hofman claims an enormous yellow bunny he installed in the town of Orebro, Sweden, helped highlight a largely forgotten statue it was sited next to.

"The bunny was removed after three months but afterward, more people started to visit the spot. That's the B-side of my installations: they give the public space back to the people who then see it with a new perspective."

Hofman's work has taken him all over the world and certain destinations have left their mark.

"I love Sao Paulo," he says. "I love the people.

"Every morning you wake up and you meet people who become your friends.

"It's a concrete jungle where, as a human, you're downsized, but I like the strength and the love of the people and the way they live together."

The West African country of Senegal also makes his list of favorites, as does the Swiss town of Bern, largely because of the way residents interact with its river in the summer.

"It's the biggest artwork you can make - it's a social, natural thing and it changes people's perspective of the city."

Different nationalities react to his work in different ways, he says.

"In Europe, the first question will be about the cost. In Asia and South America people will ask, 'what is it and why is it there?'"